Seventh Year's Changes
by Tanuki-Senpai-Sama-Sensei
Summary: Adrien had been the one to break ties with her and with everyone else. At the moment, he had thought it to be his best option, but he soon had found himself to grow lonely, only to realize it was too late. He was withdrawn once again out of his thoughts when the airplane started to shake as it went through some turbulences. He looked outside the window to see the city's lights shin


Adrien sighed as he looked to the bright Parisan lights. How long had it been? Six, seven years? He had lost count already. He was pulled out of his trance when the captain announced that they'd be landing in fifteen minutes, requiring the passengers to sit down, put off their seat tables and fasten their security belts.

Doing as demanded, Adrien went back to his own thoughts, thinking about his previous life in Paris, before he had moved to America. ' _I wonder how everyone is holding up_ ' he couldn't help but ponder. His train of thought carried on to his friends. He had kept in touch with Nino, his -still- best friend.

He remembered assisting to his wedding almost seven years ago, when the dark skinned man had married Alya, but Adrien hadn't seen him -or even talked that much to him really- since then. He then thought about Alya. His friend, if he could still call her that, had looked beautiful in her pure white wedding dress. If not for the anxiety attack she had suffered when she had found out her bridesmaid would not be coming, Adrien could have easily said that, out of her whole life, it had been the girl's happiest day ever.

His mind carried on to said missing bridesmaid then. Something had suddenly come up and it would be impossible for her to come to the wedding, much to Alya's dismay. As he thought about her, he could feel an unpleasant pressure in his stomach. He couldn't deny that he had been dissappointed when he had heard about her not coming to the wedding, but then again, he couldn't really blame her.

Adrien had been the one to break ties with her and with everyone else. At the moment, he had thought it to be his best option, but he soon had found himself to grow lonely, only to realize it was too late. He was withdrawn once again out of his thoughts when the airplane started to shake as it went through some turbulences. He looked outside the window to see the city's lights shining, welcoming him home.

* * *

It was cold. His arm hurt. His head hurt. His legs hurt. Everything hurt. He was so cold. He couldn't see anything as he could barely open his eyes. He could feel his pulse in the many wounds that covered his body.

He sometimes thought he had seen shadows dancing on the other side of his eyelids, but assumed they were people who were too scared to even get close to him. He shivered in rage, cold and hunger. Why? He hadn't done anything wrong. So why? Was it really Fortune's twisted mockery and humorless comedy that had led him to live such a horrible life? He shivered once again. For how long had he been sitting here? He couldn't remember, he couldn't bring himself to care. No one would come looking for him anyways.

He managed to look to the sky, grumbling in the process. The clouds settled in the firmament announced that the rain wouldn't be stopping anytime soon, and that the sun wouldn't be appearing either. He sighed. The rain felt nice. Albeit cold, it had a soothing effect on him. It was as if it were washing away all his problems away. All his wounds, all his worries. The only problem was the cold. He felt chilly, void and empty, and he felt as his body and mind succumbed to slumber, out of pure tiredness and frustation.

* * *

He woke up to something warm.

He couldn't feel the rain falling down his bangs anymore, and he was barely able to perceive someone offering him a hot, steamy bun, filled with smelly sauce. He didn't hesitate in grabbing the offering and gulping it down in a few bites, its flavour bringing tears to his eyes and spreading its warmess through out his entire body.

The kind person who had just given him their heavenly made food laughed, warming him even more, if that was even possible. He looked up and saw the sky-no, he saw heaven.

Heaven itself was watching him with electric blue eyes that made him melt a tittle. "Am I dead?" he couldn't help but whisper.

It had been hardly audible, but he heard laughter once again. "No, I believe my cheese filled buns are not poisonous" He was finally able to snap out of his trance and look at the person who was still giggling.

She was a woman. A very beautiful woman. Raven hair fell onto her shoulders, tied in even and long pigtails. Her face was pale and invisible to the naked eye feckles stippled her nose and cheeks. But the two things that struck him down were her smile and eyes. Her smile was warm, kind, genuine. It somehow gave him strenght, courage and hope. And the way her blue eyes shone as the sun lightened the firmament and seemed to send rays directly to them made him flush.

It was a little overwhelming to be honest. He didn't have time to respond as he was given a bag full of the delicious buns

"Here, you can have these" the woman said "I was going to give them to a friend of mine but she didn't come to our meeting, can you believe it?" she laughed "And she's the one who always complains to me…" she paused for a moment "Those wounds look nasty, if I were you I'd get them checked out. By the way, my name is Marinette, Marinette Dupain Cheng".

He could only nod in response, bewildered. The people who he had encountered before were either looking for a fight or were too scared to even go near him. With a last giggle, she straightened herself and offered him her umbrella, which he had just noticed, had been over him the whole time ' _That's why I couldn't feel the rain_ ' he thought.

He took it with his non hurting hand and looked at her in disbelief as she proceeded to put on her hood. Was this random woman giving him her umbrella on a rainy day and offering him food for free? Yes, and he couldn't believe a second of it.

She started to walk away when she suddenly turned and gave him a heart-wrecking smile

"You can always come to my parent's bakery if you need help, in fact, I would like it if you passed by later, so we can check on those wounds".

Her eyes roamed his body briefly before lingering in his eyes "I never asked by the way, what's your name?".

"Aaron".

* * *

Adrien sighed, something he had been doing often since he had arrived at Paris. It wasn't the city itself that brought his mopish mood -the nostalgia was nice and memories he had thought long forgotten kept coming back, making him smile from time to time- no, the reason for his low spirits was half-way across the globe, in the form of a girl, soon to be his wife.

Vera Zhakosvki was a rising star in the modeling world, and the news about their engagement had spread quickly. Adrien didn't hate the girl, she was pretty, but he certainly didn't love her, he doubted he even held any kind of attraction towards her. She had proposed to him a few months ago and he had just said yes, kind of going along with the moment. He groaned as he looked at the paper in his hands.

He inmensely regretted leaving all of the wedding plans to her. She couldn't have chosen another place to held the event in. Out of hundreds of countries, thousands of cities, she had to go and choose Paris. Sighing for the millionth time that night, he re-read the list he had been given before he took the plane to France. Vera had insisted that since he had to go there for work anyway, he could start the planning, killing two birds with one shoot, and she had given hin a never ending list of things to do. She sure was specific, that's for sure. She wanted the event to have the most Parisinian feeling to it.

There were written from the colours of the cake to the colours of his suit buttons. As he kept on reading, he suddenly came across a name that was vaguely familiar. Mar'dupain Bakery. He couldn't help but think about her when he saw the name, but he soon shook his head, as he remembered her house and how the bakery was called. It had to be a coincidence, since the bakery's name wasn't anything like that, last time he checked -which was too long ago-. He kept whispering the name to try and make his memory get to work at once when a little pull in his suit averted his attention.

He turned around and saw a little girl, no older than six years old, pulling his shirt. Her eyes were round and blue and her blond locks were tied messily in twin pigtails behind her head. Her bangs fell in an almost wild way in her forehead and the way she looked up at him reminded him of someone he couldn't quite picture in his head yet.

"Sir!" she suddenly exclaimed, making him jump a little bit "Are you lost?".

"Pardon?".

"I asked if you were lost, you kept whispering the name and I know where that bakery is" she flashed him a smile, making him chuckle

"I'm not really lost, I was just thinking aloud"

"…You are weird" Adrien froze for a moment at that. For a child, her tongue was sharp

"Well, if you're not lost, then I guess I'll be going, since you know where the bakery is and all" Adrien once agaim froze at that. She was right, he had no idea were the bakery could be. He saw the child slowly turning, and he called her just before she could start walking.

She turned at the light of speed with the brightest of smiles plastered on her face. What?

"I wasn't planning on going away you know?" She said as she grabbed his hand and started to lead him into a very familiar street. What?

"You wanted to know more about the bakery, it's written all over you face!" she laughed at his bewildered look. Had he just been played? By a child? Living overseas had not done him any good.

However, as he approached the bakery, his throath parched up and his guts twisted in a way that couldn't be healthy, the feeling only intensifying when they entered the bakery. "Mom I'm back!".

He felt himself go pale and weak in his knees "Welcome sweety" Adrien wanted to run, to get out of here, but he was frozen solid, glued to the floor.

"I've brought a new client with me today too! Do I get to eat an extra cookie after dinner?" The woman walked out of the larder with an apologetic expression and a humored smile as she carried a tray filled with buns and rolls to the counter, but never turning her head up to see who her daughter had brought into the store with her.

A couple of seconds had passed -which felt an eternity for Adrien- when she finally lifted her head, opening her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out of it as the tray and breads crashed loudly into the floor, her mouth agape and her eyes wide with horror. The tension could have been cut with a pair of scissors, if not for the clueless girl next to Adrien, who had been waiting a response from her mother and had no idea about what had just happened

"You…" she started, not taking her eyes off of him for an instant

"You get to be grounded mademoiselle".

Adrien felt like crying.


End file.
